Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the (1) highest, and (3) lowest, amount of compensation requested by sub-postmasters following the Post Office Horizon scandal; and what proportion of the requested amounts have been paid.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Compensation offers depend on the compensation claim submitted. The total so far paid to the 102 postmasters whose convictions have been overturned is over £38 million, and £34 million has been paid out to 477 GLO claimants. This covers both interim payments and full and final settlements. Postmasters who claimed through the original Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS) have now all had offers and 242 offers have been made to late applicants. To date, £107 million has been paid out to all HSS claimants. We publish monthly data on claims received. The most recent monthly data can be found here:
The amounts awarded to individuals are not revealed out of respect for individuals’ privacy.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that Royal Mail is not currently meeting its first-class and second-class letter delivery targets; and what remedial action they intend to take in response.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail's service standards and decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action should Royal Mail fail to achieve its obligations without good justification.
In its investigation into quality of service performance for 2022-23, Ofcom found Royal Mail had contravened its service conditions and therefore imposed a £5.6 million fine on the business. Ofcom has committed to closely monitoring Royal Mail's performance and the steps it is taking to return delivery offices to pre-pandemic practices.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many recipients of Tier 1 (Investor) visas were flagged as potentially at high risk of having links to corruption or organised crime in the recent Tier 1 (Investor) visa review.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Tier 1 (Investor) route has been closed. The then Home Secretary made a Written Ministerial Statement on 12 January 2023 setting out the findings of a review into issuance of visas under the route between 2008 and 2015. The Government will not be commenting further on the findings of that review.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted by the Post Office have since died without receiving any redress; and how many of their relatives have received full redress.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Tragically, a total of seven wrongfully prosecuted postmasters within the current ‘Overturned Convictions’ cohort have died. Six of these were postmasters whose convictions have been overturned, and one was prosecuted but not convicted. Two of the seven postmasters died after their convictions were overturned. Of these seven claims, four have reached full and final settlement.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to place a copy of the Project Zebra review, associated with the Post Office Horizon scandal, in the Library of the House.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department does not have a copy of the Project Zebra review. Like other aspects of the Horizon scandal, this is a matter for the statutory Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, chaired by Sir Wyn Williams, to look into
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether any Government departments knew about the flaws in the Post Office’s Horizon software system prior to the privatisation of Royal Mail.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This is a matter for the statutory Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, chaired by Sir Wyn Williams, to look into. It would be wrong for the Government to prejudice its work.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the (1) highest, and (2) lowest, compensation payments made to sub postmasters wrongly prosecuted by the Post Office to date.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Postmasters with overturned Horizon convictions are offered a fixed sum award of £600,000 to settle their claim, however those who wish to can continue to have their claim individually assessed. The amounts awarded to individuals are not revealed out of respect for their privacy, but the total so far paid to people whose convictions have been overturned is over £35 million.
The small number of postmasters who were prosecuted but not convicted are eligible to claim compensation via the Horizon Shortfall Scheme or GLO scheme.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the sub-postmasters wrongfully convicted because of flawed Horizon computer evidence are yet to have their convictions overturned, allowing for payment of compensation.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
700 postmasters were prosecuted by Post Office and a further 283 were prosecuted by others based on Post Office evidence, totalling 983 convictions. As of 13 February, there are now 102 overturned wrongful convictions.
On 10 January, the Prime Minister announced that the Government intends to bring forward legislation to overturn the convictions of all those convicted in England or Wales on the basis of Post Office evidence during the Horizon scandal.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government when the 'Transformation Incentive Scheme' authorising payment of bonuses to the Post Office senior employees for co-operating with the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry was designed, approved, and implemented; and which Ministers approved it.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
While Ministers at the then Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and HM Treasury Ministers signed off on the 2021/22 Transformation Incentive Scheme (TIS) they did not authorise the payment of bonuses. Determining whether targets have been met and bonuses should be awarded is the responsibility of Post Office Limited’s Remuneration Committee.
The timeline of approvals is set out in both Post Office Limited’s Review of the Transformation Incentive Scheme (TIS), also known as the Amanda Burton Report, and HM Government’s Review Of The Governance Relevant To Post Office Limited's Senior Executive Remuneration.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to publish the names and bonus amounts paid to Post Office senior employees under the ‘Transformation Incentive Scheme’ for co-operating with the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
This is a matter for Post Office Ltd as the Department does not hold this information. Government understands that all current Post Office employees who received the bonus have voluntarily returned the remuneration associated with the sub-metric relating to the Post Office’s support for the Inquiry. Nick Read (Post Office CEO) took a further step and voluntarily returned the full bonus payment attributed to the overall Inquiry metric.